1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicular operation processing system which is mounted in a vehicle, for example, utilized for removal of snow (hereinafter referred to as a snowplow) and which performs associated processes such as a voice guidance for a check point and automatic sampling of operation records when the vehicle approaches the check point.
2. Description of Related Art
It is prohibited for the snowplow to dump removed snow from an expressway or the like at a section crossing with an underpassing general road. The driver is also required to lift a snowremoving machine at a section passing over a river because there is a bridge joint. It is also necessary to memorize check points in creating operation records while removing snow. Accordingly, it is desirable to set various check points including the snow dumping prohibited sections and the bridge joints in advance and to be able to carry out associated processes such as a voice guidance for the check point and automatic sampling of operation records when the snowplow approaches any one of the check points.
In this case, it is conceivable to determine that the snowplow is approaching the check point by detecting a current vehicle position with the GPS (Global Positioning System) used in a vehicular navigation system. However, it is difficult to accurately determine the approach to the check point because of errors in detecting the current vehicle position and the snowplow on an expressway often travel in directions different from that of the normal vehicles. For instance, the snowplow is required to run in various ways in addition to traveling in the normal direction of traffic in the lanes. For example, it may travel in an opposite direction to the traffic in the main lane, drive around a vehicle station within an interchange or run by making a U-turn from an up (down) lane to a down (up) lane by utilizing the interchange. Normal vehicles will never drive in such ways, thus making it is difficult to deal with determining the approach of snow plows to a check point by using the vehicular navigation system.
It is noted that other vehicles driving in various ways as described above, include a police car, a fire engine, an ambulance, a road maintenance car and the like, beside the snowplow.
The present invention has been made based on the above-mentioned background and its object is to accurately detect that a vehicle such as a snowplow is approaching a check point to perform the associated processes with respect to the check point.
It is another object of the invention to perform the associated processes such as voice guidance, automatic sampling of operation records and the like with respect to the check points peculiar to the snowplow such as the snow dumping prohibited sections and bridge joints.